OneDrive, OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Libraries where should I store my documents?

OneDrive, OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Libraries, where should I store my documents?

This is a question that I am asked regularly and I hope to explain in a manner that makes sense. This blog is not intended to be a training manual but it will give you an idea of what each of these products look like and how you should use them.

OneDrive

What is it?

OneDrive is Microsoft’s FREE service for storing files in the cloud. If you sign up for a FREE Microsoft personal account to Outlook, Skype etc you automatically get 5Gb of OneDrive cloud storage.

What should I use it for?

To store personal documents or pictures not related to your work.

How to access it?

You can access it from a browser, an app on your phone or direct from your computer using the OneDrive app.

Install the OneDrive app on your phone from the Windows Store, Google Play or Apple App Store and when prompted enter your Microsoft personal account details to connect. This is the app you’re presented with.

From your computer

When you have the OneDrive app on your computer this provides an offline copy of your files meaning that changes to documents are synced between your computer and OneDrive cloud storage. (You can access the documents even if you don’t have Internet access and they will sync up later.) The OneDrive app is already installed on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Pc’s.

If you don’t have it installed browse to https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-ie/download/ and select download under the icon OneDrive. (do not download the OneDrive for Business version yet!)

Install the app and when prompted enter your Microsoft Personal Account details to connect. This syncs all your documents stored in the cloud to a location on your hard drive. To access these documents open file explore and open the folder OneDrive-Personal. The very familiar file explorer view is what you get.

OneDrive for Business

What is it?

OneDrive is Microsoft’s paid service for storing files in the cloud. If your business has paid for an Office 365 Subscription that has OneDrive as part of it then you get 1TB of OneDrive for Business cloud storage.

What should I use it for?

To store work related documents or pictures which are primarily for your own use.

How to access it?

You can access it from a browser, an app on your phone or direct from your computer using the OneDrive app.

From the browser –

Browse to your Office 365 portal at http://portal.office365.com and sign in with your Office 365 account credentials. Open your app launcher in the top left hand corner and select OneDrive. (First confusion: Why is this not OneDrive for Business!)

This opens OneDrive for Business as follows.

From your phone

The OneDrive for Business app is available for Windows, IOS and Android and it allows you to open your documents stored in your OneDrive for Business account from your phone. (Second confusion: Microsoft calls the app OneDrive in the app stores!) Open the app and enter your Office 365 Account details and the following is what you’re presented with.

From your computer

When you have the OneDrive for Business app on your computer this provides an offline copy of your documents meaning that changes to documents are synced between your computer and your OneDrive for Business cloud storage. (You can access the documents even if you don’t have Internet access and they will sync up later.)

Install the app and when prompted enter your Office 365 Account details to connect. This syncs all your documents stored in the cloud to a location on your hard drive. To access these documents open file explore and open the folder OneDrive – %Company Name% (In my instance it’s OneDrive – HCS Business Solutions). The very familiar file explorer view is what you get. Note the green ticks beside each folder, this shows you that everything is in sync between the PC and OneDrive for Business storage.

SharePoint – Document Libraries

What is it?

SharePoint is many things but in the context of this blog it is a Microsoft paid service that provides a document management system in the cloud. If your business has paid for an Office 365 Subscription that has SharePoint as part of it then you get access to a company portal. This portal needs to be setup and configured before you and your team of people can use it.

** HCS have a team of SharePoint consultants who will help setup and configure your SharePoint company portal. Contact us if you’re not sure if you have SharePoint or if you want to discuss setting up a portal.

What should I use it for?

To store work related documents or pictures that will be shared amongst a team of people.

How to access it?

You can access it from a browser on your phone, tablet or computer or directly from your computer using the OneDrive for Business app.

From the browser
Once it is configured you can access your SharePoint portal from any browser using the following URL
http://domainname.sharepoint.com (replace domain name with your company domain name, if unsure check with your Office 365 administrator.)

From your phone or tablet

To access documents stored in a SharePoint Library from your phone or tablet (Windows, Android or iPhone) open the document library url (same URL as before) in the mobile browser. This will open the mobile view of your SharePoint Team Library as follows;

From your computer
If you want to open a Team Document Library from your computer click on Sync within the SharePoint Portal in the browser, this will install a SharePoint Document Library Sync app called OneDrive for Business. (same version as is used for OneDrive for business)
This provides an offline copy of your team documents library meaning that changes to documents are synced between your computer and your Team Document Library in SharePoint. (Similar to OneDrive and OneDrive for Business this means you can access the documents even if you don’t have Internet access and they will sync up later.)

In summary the grid below will hopefully help you understand the differences. I hope this helped. Any feedback, you’re welcome to email me at nphelan@hcs.ie.